Strong Opinions and Secrets #IWSG


Badge for Insecure Writer's Support Group

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group.  The awesome co-hosts for the June 3rd posting of the IWSG are Pat Garcia, J.Q. Rose, and Natalie Aguirre! Today I will be looking at how I deal with my strong opinions in my writing as I answer the June 3rd IWSG question:

Writers have secrets! What are one or two of yours, something readers would never know from your work?

Strong Opinions

I have strong opinions about everything. Part of being an insecure writer is a reluctance to share my feelings and opinions on controversial subjects. In a time when everyone seems comfortable sharing their strong opinions on social media platforms, blogs, and in other ways, I opt for a more whitewashed approach.

A Daily Struggle

Daily, my desire to keep my thoughts to myself battles with my desire to share them. I’m even seeing a therapist as I try to overcome this inability to be transparent and authentic. Authenticity is essential to creativity. It is essential to your ability to connect with readers. I know this! In the past, I’ve written about becoming more authentic in your writing. I’ve attempted various exercises to embolden myself as a writer. Yet, I struggle.

The root of my inability to share my authentic feelings and thoughts is a fear of rejection. I worry that I will alienate people that I care about if they don’t agree with one of my strong opinions.  So, I opt for a more traditional journalistic style of writing: research and present without bias. I tend to steer clear of hot button issues. When I do share personal opinions in something I write, I feel high levels of anxiety and pray that no one reads it.

Secrets

I wish my writer’s secrets were great ways to improve your writing craft. But this is my dirty little secret. Perhaps by shedding some light on it, I can loosen its grip upon my freedom as a writer. Do you struggle with sharing strong opinions and personal feelings in your writing? How are you attempting to overcome this?

What Are YOUR Thoughts?

Please share how your world is doing in the comments below. I appreciate my readers as well as the writing community. To show that appreciation, I use Comment Luv. Just leave a comment below, and your latest post will get a link next to it. Thank you!

Author, Heather Erickson's Headshot

About Heather Erickson

I am an author, writer, and speaker and homeschooling mom of 3. Since doctors diagnosed my husband, Dan, with stage IV lung cancer in 2012, I’ve focused my writing and speaking on helping cancer patients and their families advocate for themselves and live life to the fullest, despite their illness. My goal is to help people face cancer with grace. My books are available at Amazon.com:

The Memory Maker’s Journal 

Facing Cancer as a Friend: How to Support Someone Who Has Cancer

Facing Cancer as a Parent: Helping Your Children Cope with Your Cancer

I also blog about living with cancer at Facing Cancer with Grace.

Have any questions or comments? I would love to hear from you! By commenting, you agree to the terms of my privacy policy.

4 comments on “Strong Opinions and Secrets #IWSG

I so agree with you–that sharing my ideas ends in rejection. I have yet to get past that. Good post, as usual, Heather.

Thank you, Jacqui. See? I’m surprised to hear that from you. But I am also encouraged because I admire you and your work so much. I guess none of us are immune to this feeling.

You might find more of your circle agrees with you than you expect. We tend to find our tribes and they tend to agree with us. But then again, you might find that you disagree with them.

Hi Liz, Yes! This is what I discovered in Jacqui’s comment. It would be good to discover a way to avoid the fear of rejection. I think we would be more prolific writers.

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